RUSHDIE EXPRESSES REGRET TO MUSLIMS FOR BOOK'S EFFECT

By STEVE LOHR, Special to the New York Times

Published: February 19, 1989

LONDON, Feb. 18—
The author Salman Rushdie, facing a death threat from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran, said today that he regretted the distress that his novel ''The Satanic Verses'' has caused Muslims.

The initial Iranian reaction to Mr. Rushdie's expression of regret was confused and contradictory. The official Iranian press agency, monitored in Nicosia, Cyprus, first issued a critical commentary. Hours later, the agency said Mr. Rushdie's statement was ''sufficient to warrant his pardon.''

But tonight, the agency released a ''clarification,'' saying that the earlier pardon was a ''personal observation'' by one of the agency's writers that ''does not allow for any specific interpretation whatsoever.'' Author's Statement

The statement by Mr. Rushdie, whose novel has been deemed offensive by many Islamic figures, came one day after Iran's President, Ali Khamenei, said the death sentence against the Indian-born British writer might be withdrawn if Mr. Rushdie publicly apologized.

''As author of 'The Satanic Verses,' I recognize that Muslims in many parts of the world are genuinely distressed by the publication of my novel,'' Mr. Rushdie said in his three-sentence statement. ''I profoundly regret the distress that publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam.''

''Living as we do in a world of many faiths,'' the statement continued, ''this experience has served to remind us that we must all be conscious of the sensibilities of others.''

An official of Mr. Rushdie's publisher, Viking Penguin, today condemned ''censorship by terrorism and intimidation.'' The official coupled his remarks with criticism of the major book chains that have pulled the novel from their shelves. [ Page 18. ] May Bot Be Sufficient

The seemingly contradictory statements from Iran apparently left Mr. Rushdie, 41 years old, under the threat of death. A foreign diplomat in Britain said the Muslim world may only heed a reprieve from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader, since the Ayatollah himself issued the death sentence.

Today's statement of regret by Mr. Rushdie, who remains in hiding under police guard, was an effort to get the death sentence lifted and to remove his family, his publisher and the bookstores carrying his novel from danger. All have been threatened.

The statement also represented a major step in seeking to defuse an issue that has caused an international furor. Mr. Rushdie's book has prompted violent demonstrations that have led to deaths in Pakistan and in parts of India.

Ayatollah Khomeini's threat has brought condemnation from most Western governments, endangering Teheran's recent efforts to improve relations with the West and to encourage overseas investment as it rebuilds its shattered economy in the aftermath of the war with Iraq.

After Ayatollah Khomeini's threat, which was also addressed to any publishers of ''The Satanic Verses,'' book companies in France, West Germany, Greece and Turkey decided not to publish it. But publishers in Finland, Norway and Italy went ahead. Because its content has been judged profane to Islam, the book is officially banned in Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and South Africa.

Major booksellers in the United States, including Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble, decided in the last few days to withdraw Mr. Rushdie's book from their shelves in what they called an effort to protect employees. A book-promotion tour by Mr. Rushdie to the United States was canceled. Canada has halted imports until it can decide whether the work violates laws banning the dissemination of hate literature.

In Britain, Muslim protests and the burning of copies of ''The Satanic Verses'' helped make a book that was critically acclaimed but difficult going for most readers into an overnight No. 1 bestseller. Yet by the end of the week, few British bookstores had the book on display, saying that they had sold all their copies or that they were concerned about safety. Synopsis of the Confusion

In today's confusion, the Iranian press agency's first dispatch stated that Mr. Rushdie ''formally apologized for his slanderous book on Islam,'' but added that the author ''had been under growing pressure to make a public repentance that his statement is seen falling well short of.''

The agency's second commentary said Mr. Rushdie's statement, ''though far too short of a repentance, is generally seen as sufficient enough to warrant his pardon by the masses in Iran and elsewhere in the world.''

Then, in its third report on the Rushdie statement, the Iranian news agency said the earlier pardon was merely a ''personal observation'' by one of its writers and thus not an official Iranian stance.

Still, Government officials in Teheran have taken a more conciliatory line since the threat was made on Tuesday.

The speech Friday by President Khamenei indicated that the door was open to calming the crisis surrounding Mr. Rushdie's book. Later on Friday, Iranian diplomats stressed that Ayatollah Khomeini's edict was made in his capacity as the religious leader of Iran, not as head of the Iranian state.

Pragmatic Iranian leaders, such as the Speaker of Parliament, Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Mr. Khamenei, who advocate increasing links with foreign nations to help with postwar reconstruction, want to see the tumult over the Rushdie book subside quickly, according to experts on the country. 'Defuse the Crisis'

''The Iranian leadership will probably try to interpret Rushdie's half-apology in a way that will defuse the crisis,'' said Shahran Chubin, a specialist on Iran at the Institute for International Affairs in Geneva.

But if the Iranians' position changed since Tuesday, so has that of Mr. Rushdie. Then, he denied that the book was a blasphemy against Islam and said the uproar was unfortunate.

In an interview with British television before going into hiding, he said: ''Frankly, I wish I had written a more critical book. A religion that claims it is able to behave like this, religious leaders who are able to behave like this, and then say this is a religion that must be above any kind of whisper of criticism: that doesn't add up.''

The furor that erupted this week with the Ayatollah's death threat had been simmering for five months, ever since the embassies of Muslim nations in London began seeing previews of ''The Satanic Verses.'' In the view of Muslims, the book debases their religion by, among other things, portraying the Prophet Mohammed's wives as prostitutes and suggesting that Mohammed wrote the Koran, the holy book of Islam, instead of receiving it from God.

But Iran found itself facing an international uproar after the death threat against Mr. Rushdie as Western countries denounced the Ayatollah's order to Muslims to kill the author.